MGM pulled its $2.3 billion expansion plan for Empire City, and downstate licenses went elsewhere. See what this loss of gaming revenue means for the Yonkers economy.
Photo by Juan Patino / Pexels
Zero. That is how many downstate casino licenses Yonkers holds after New York closed its gaming expansion in December 2025, and the city no longer has an active bid in the running. The outcome traces back through three decisions made across 2025: a state ban on online sweepstakes casinos, MGM’s withdrawal of a $2.3 billion plan for Empire City, and the award of all three downstate licenses to projects in Queens and the Bronx. For a city that built part of its economy on gaming, the result is a defined opportunity that has now closed rather than a wait on something still pending.
Key number: $2.3 billion is the size of the Empire City expansion MGM withdrew in October 2025, the single largest gaming investment Yonkers stood to receive.
What New York’s sweepstakes law bans
Governor Kathy Hochul signed S5935A into law on December 5, 2025, and it took effect immediately, outlawing online sweepstakes games that use a dual-currency payment system to offer cash or cash-equivalent prizes. The statute targets operators and the support ecosystem, from payment processors to media affiliates, not individual players, and sets civil fines of $10,000 to $100,000 per violation while keeping the mechanism civil. The data shows a steady enforcement build toward that signature. In June 2025, Attorney General Letitia James announced cease-and-desist letters to 26 operators, all of which agreed to end the sale of Sweeps Coins in New York.
How dual-currency sweepstakes casinos work
These platforms run on two separate virtual currencies rather than direct cash wagers. Players use gold coins for play with no monetary value, then receive sweeps coins that can be redeemed for prizes, a design that simulates real-money casino gaming while operating outside licensed gambling frameworks in states where it remains legal. Readers tracking which operators still run this model elsewhere in the country can consult the Odds Scanner US Sweepstakes list as a factual reference.
The law targets exactly that redemption loop. S5935A defines a sweepstakes game as any online or mobile game, competition, or promotion that uses two currencies, usually one paid and one promotional, which has been the norm for sweepstakes casinos that offer redeemable prizes. By comparison with states that kept narrower carve-outs, New York set a higher ceiling: its maximum fine of $100,000 sits well above the $25,000 cap some other states applied.
MGM’s withdrawal and the local reaction
The second decision was MGM’s, and it came before the ban was even signed. MGM Yonkers abruptly withdrew its bid for one of New York’s three downstate casino licenses on October 14, 2025, despite the Empire City proposal having been the first downstate contender unanimously approved by its Community Advisory Council. The company said its plan was predicated on a 30-year license but that newly issued state guidance meant it now expected to qualify for only a 15-year license, an outcome it said no longer aligned with its capital commitments or those of its real estate partner, VICI.
For Yonkers, the scale of what left is clear in the construction figures that had been on the table. MGM had said it was ready to start a $2.3 billion expansion within months of getting a license, adding 183 live dealer games, 14 new restaurants and bars, and a 5,000-seat concert and show venue. Local coverage of the entertainment and gaming economy in the city, which readers can follow through the Yonkers Times local news and entertainment coverage, had framed Empire City as a frontrunner before the reversal.
Mayor Mike Spano did not accept the stated reasoning quietly. Spano called for a full investigation, saying “something doesn’t add up here” and that the people of Yonkers deserved answers. The withdrawal removed the one bid that would have converted an existing racino into a full commercial casino, leaving the city’s gaming footprint where it was in 2006.
Three downstate licenses, none in Yonkers
The third decision sealed the outcome. The New York State Gaming Commission formally approved three downstate casino licenses on December 15, 2025, authorizing Metropolitan Park near Citi Field and Resorts World New York City in South Ozone Park, both in Queens, along with Bally’s in the Bronx. The commission’s authority to grant up to three licenses was now fully used, and none went north to Yonkers.
The three recipients break down by borough and project as follows:
- The first is Metropolitan Park, a Hard Rock project at Willets Point in Queens, which received a 20-year license based on its financial commitment.
- The second is Resorts World New York City, an expansion of the existing racino at Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens, awarded a 15-year license.
- The third is Bally’s in the Bronx, a casino-hotel at Ferry Point, also awarded a 15-year license.
Those details are confirmed in the New York Senate record for the sweepstakes measure and the Commission’s own December votes; the enforcement and fine schedule sit in the text of Senate bill S5935A. At the vote, Gaming Commission Chair Brian O’Dwyer said the three projects would generate thousands of “good, union jobs” in Queens and the Bronx. None of those jobs are in Westchester County.
What comes next for Empire City
The property itself is not closing. MGM has operated Empire City Casino since 2019, and the property has generated more than $5 billion for New York State education, including $1.6 billion under MGM’s ownership. Empire City entered the final stage of the race as one of four applications that cleared their respective Community Advisory Council reviews in late September 2025, alongside the three eventual winners.
What it will not become is a full table-game casino. All of the Manhattan bids were eliminated and MGM pulled its Yonkers bid, leaving Queens and the Bronx as the winners in the downstate race. With the three licenses issued and no fourth available, the numbers point to Empire City continuing as a video-lottery racino rather than the expanded resort Yonkers was counting on, which fixes the city’s gaming jobs and revenue at their current level for the life of those 15-year and 20-year awards.